


A talk with the past

by zandral



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-04
Updated: 2014-04-04
Packaged: 2018-01-18 03:35:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1413559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zandral/pseuds/zandral
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Night is when old memories of the past are at the front of your mind, it seems that ghosts from said past show up as well during that time as well. If only this ghost had the sense to use the front door.</p>
<p>A oneshot to go with the ending of Captain America The Winter Soldier. Please be wary, this has spoilers in it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A talk with the past

**Author's Note:**

> I cried when I saw the Peggy Steve scene in the theater, and at the end I got to thinking about what would happen if Bucky went to visit Peggy, and this oneshot came to life.

It was quiet in the room tonight, the only sounds in Peggy Carter’s room being the sounds of New York, still alive and well at 2 in the morning. The older woman looked out the window, tired and thinking about how she wished to be out there feeling the cold crisp wind of the night on her face as she went on a mission. She had no regrets with her life, she loved every moment of it even if it wasn’t the way she thought it would go after falling for a skinny kid from Brooklyn.

Closing her eyes as she heard the old building creak, she let herself smile at her hearing being the one of the few things she still had left. “I’m 97 years old, not dead.” Peggy told the quiet room. The wooden floor creaked as the intruder stepped closer to the woman, stopping at the end of the bed. Turning her head, Peggy could see the man she knew for a short amount of time during the war. His hear was unkempt, not even close to standard military length, and his eyes older, but she could still see the man that stood by Steve Rogers every day of the war.

“James, it’s good to see you.” The woman said with a warm smile, her crows eye crinkled around the bright brown eyes that still showed the woman the man knew when she was in her 20’s. The former sergeant took off his hat and looked away from Peggy with a look of sorrow etched on his face like stone.  He always had those lines on his face though, especially when he couldn’t be where Steve was during missions, or when he was sure Steve wasn’t looking after one that went wrong.

“Steve told you about me then?”  The man asked as he played with his hat in his hands. Watching him, Peggy had a pain of yearning to be young again. Not because she wanted a chance to live out her life again, but more so her right hook would have more of an impact on the lost man in front of her. Steve had come after the hospital let him out, a few days after that entire ruckus happened in DC with tears in his eyes as he explained the whole event.  Peggy could only squeeze the man’s hand in support, knowing how much Barnes death wrecked Steve in the 40’s, and knowing also the guilt Steve would feel now. It was easy to read the captain if you spent more than 2 hours with him, a man who carried the world on his shoulders and would never complain once about it.

With a shrug Peggy smiled wryly at the man. “You were all he talked about during the war, I expected no different after 70 years.” That earned a choked laugh from the young man, who visibly relaxed as he moved closer to the woman, hesitant about the action as he stopped at the foot of her bed. Knowing that rolling her eyes was rude, she pointed to a chair that was neatly placed under the desk right by her bed. “Take a seat Barnes, you’re making me get a crick in my neck.”

With only a second hesitation, Bucky slowly did as he was told, sitting in the same spot Steve did just days ago, looking just as lost as the other man from out of time did. The silence lingered for a moment before James finally looked down at his own two hands, one gloved and the other showing human flesh. 

“He wouldn’t attack me.” James whispered to the woman, “He just kept taking each swing I threw at him Peggy.” The woman hummed in thought before looking over at the window again, thinking of days past, when life was hard, but simpler.

“He mourned you. Steve even tried to drink away the pain for a good two hours until I found him in a burned down bar.” Peggy explained, making the man look up with his face morphed into a combination of guilt and confusion. With a sigh that looked like it shook her whole body, the woman closed her eyes as she recalled the tears in her friends face as she told him that James would not have wanted that. Opening them up, she saw that James was now looking at her, waiting for the woman to continue. It felt good having an audience to talk to about her past. Her young niece used to all the time, but age and the times makes people want to live out their own stories than have them told to them.

Thinking of how to continue, she decided to be blunt. If she couldn’t hit him with a fist, she could with her words. “He told me he’d kill or capture any Hydra officer he found until Red Skull was dead in that bar.”

“Steve wouldn’t-“

“He would for you.” Peggy explained patiently to the lost man before her. Slowly grabbing hold of his naked hand, she could now feel the small tremors of fear the man was giving off of now, Peggy looked the man in the eyes. She wasn’t afraid of him, even though Steve was honest about what he had become under HYDRA. The man before her wasn’t a killer; he was a lost soul who didn’t know where to go.

“The only two things I knew right when I met Captain Rogers were that he was very brave, and he was loyal to anyone he was ever close to, doing anything to make sure they were safe.” Peggy told James as she stroked her thumb on his hand in comfort. “That includes taking a few dozen hits from his best friend so he could come to his senses.”

James swallowed a lump in his throat before gently squeezing the woman’s hand. It had been so long since someone had given him honest kindness that he had to take a moment to absorb the feeling before he talked. The older woman before him waiting for him to speak now, it was only polite. Using his gloved hand to wipe his face to try to compose himself James took a deep breath and let it shake his body, letting himself let go of some of the pain he was carrying.

“What do I do now?” He asked his best friends past romance, looking more like a lost boy than ever as Peggy remembered not just for the first time that night how young her boys truly were. Both soldiers in there 20’s and already having been through so much hell in such a short time.

“If you haven’t already tracked down where he’s living, which if that’s true then I’m very disappointed in you Sargent, “Peggy reprimanded, getting another laugh from the tired man, his eyes lighting up as she teased him.  It was good to see the light in the man’s eyes, it made Peggy feel more at ease knowing it was still there. It was hidden and not as bright as it had been in the 40’s, but time heals wounds, even if the scars will never fade.  “Then I would suggest finding out where he lives, and instead of stalking his window like a mooning guppy, go knock on his door and talk to him.”

James laughed long at her teasing and bluntness while slowly let go of the woman’s hand, kissing it gently in thanks before he stood up and putting the chair back to where it was.  Placing his hat back on his head, the man looked down with a smile on his lips at the woman. “Should I bring him some flowers Agent Carter, or would that be too revealing?”

With a chuckle, Peggy just shook her head. “Go on before I have to throw you out by the collar Barnes, and don’t come back unless Steve’s with you to keep you in line.” She ordered affectionately. With a sharp salute, James nodded his head before leaving. They didn’t need a goodbye told to one another, because they would see each other again soon, and goodbyes to a man out of time seemed more permanent than it would to someone in this time.

 As the man left, Peggy smiled, not hearing the front door open but only the old house creaking with its old age once more. She’d have to teach that man that doors are an invention he has to use these days or else be suspected of robbery.  As the time ticked on, she slowly closed her eyes in her quiet room as she fell asleep listening to the sound of New York, while thinking of the future and seeing the two men she thought she left in the past, be able to live together in the future.

**Author's Note:**

> Please Review and give back feedback!


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